enforcement

Court records indicate that Victor Torres-Elizondo, killed by a Hillsboro police officer after he fired a shot at police during a traffic stop, had a criminal history that involved multiple drug-related crimes but no violent offenses....
 

...Torres-Elizondo, 30, who also goes by Victor Torres, had multiple drug-related convictions in Oregon and Washington state during the past 10 years, according to court records....

Read more about Victor Torres-Elizondo.
  Read more about Hillsboro police officer justified in fatal shooting of man during traffic stop, DA says

In its first four years the Obama administration deported 3.2 million aliens, averaging just over 800,000 per year. Pro-amnesty advocacy groups, administration officials, lawmakers, and lazy reporters all have claimed this is a record, but it is not. In fact, according to historical DHS statistics, this is the lowest total and annual average since the mid-1970s.

Bloomberg News reporter Bill Selway wrote this last week:

The ordinances come as Obama's administration has faced pressure from Democratic lawmakers and Hispanic backers to scale back deportations, which hit a record 409,900 in the 2012 budget year. During his five years in office, the Obama administration has sent 1.93 million people back to their home countries, close to what President George W. Bush did in eight years and nearly as many as in the 108 years before Bush took office.

The statistic in the first sentence refers to the number of deportations claimed by ICE for 2012, not total deportations. In order to achieve this "record," ICE juiced its numbers by counting certain Border Patrol cases as ICE removals, which had not been done in prior years. (Border Patrol deportations are usually counted as "returns".) So ICE's deportation record under the Obama administration is about as valid as Barry Bonds' home run record.

Because the Obama administration has blurred the lines of which agencies can take credit for deportations, the only fair way to assess their performance is to count all deportations done by all the DHS agencies. These are reported every year in the DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics in Table 39, which shows the number of "removals" and "returns" by all immigration enforcement agencies going back to 1927.

There we find that the total number of aliens "sent back" under first four years of the Obama administration is just over 3.2 million (not 1.93 million, as Selway wrote). This is an annual average of just over 800,000 sent back per year. Official numbers for 2013 have not been released yet, but the total will be about the same, with just over 400,000 Border patrol deportations and about 370,000 attributed to ICE.

That is nowhere near the totals under George Bush's administration, which were over 10.3 million total deportations with an annual average of 1.2 million (see the table below).

The real record for deportations belongs to the Clinton administration. Obama's total is lower than the last six administrations, even lower than Jimmy Carter's.

Sure, illegal border crossings, which generate the lion's share of all deportations, have slowed some during the Obama administration, and that's one reason why the Border Patrol is deporting fewer aliens, but the plain fact remains that the Obama administration has not deported more people than any recent previous administration – not even close. The other reason the Obama deportation numbers are low is because interior enforcement has been nearly dismantled due to executive-decree amnesties and so-called "prosecutorial discretion," which shields at least 90 percent of the illegal population from enforcement.

The most egregious reporting malpractice in Selway's article is the absurd claim that Obama's deportation numbers are "nearly as many as in the 108 years before Bush took office."

I expect the pro-amnesty advocacy groups to keep spouting bogus statistics to support their outrageous demands for an end to all deportations, but there's no excuse for reporters at national news organizations to keep accepting it at face value. Read more about Obama Deportations Definitely Not Record-Breaking

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi privately has urged the Obama administration to halt deportations for some illegal immigrants...

In an interview with Telemundo over the weekend, Mrs. Pelosi said that just being in the country illegally is not enough of a reason to be deported, and she said illegal immigrants must have something more serious on their records.

“Our view of the law is that it — if somebody is here without sufficient documentation, that is not reason for deportation,” she said in the interview... “If somebody has broken the law, committed a felony or something, that’s a different story.”

Federal law generally does say that those who are in the country without authorization — either because they jumped the border or have overstayed their visas — are deportable.

But Mr. Obama has claimed broad discretion to decide whom to deport out of the 11 million illegal immigrants estimated to be in the country, arguing that Congress only appropriated enough money to deport about 400,000 people a year and so he must pick and choose whom to deport.

Homeland Security officials argue that nearly all of those they deport do meet one of their priority categories of having a criminal record or having previously been deported and returned to the U.S. in violation of that removal.

In her interview with Telemundo, Mrs. Pelosi said she disputes that, saying she’s appeared alongside some of those she said shouldn’t have been deported.

...Still, Mrs. Pelosi said she is not sure whether Mr. Obama has the authority to grant a broad suspension of deportations for parents of so-called Dreamers, the illegal immigrants whom the president already carved out of danger of deportation in an executive action last year.

“I don’t know whether he has the authority,” Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, said. “But I think that there is discretion in the law as to the implementation, enforcement of the legislation that is calling for these deportations.” Read more about Pelosi calls for Obama to halt deportations

A Washington County judge this week ruled that the man suspected of killing 55-year-old Maria Bolanos-Rivera is mentally fit to stand trial.

The mother of six left her Hillsboro home on Aug. 26, 2012, the last time her family saw her. Bolanos-Rivera's body has not been found. Vasquez-Santiago has been charged with murder in her apparent death.

Vasquez-Santiago's murder charge came in September last year after he turned himself in to authorities at the California-Mexico border. According to court records and testimony, he uttered with the words, "I killed her," during a lengthy interview with Hillsboro detectives in the San Diego County Jail.

Defense attorneys raised concerns about the defendant's mental competence, prompting a judge to order his evaluation at the Oregon State Hospital this year. At the end of a hearing on Monday to determine Vasquez-Santiago's ability to aid and assist in his own defense, the judge found the defendant mentally fit.

Vasquez-Santiago appeared before Circuit Judge Don Letourneau on Thursday afternoon, when trial dates were set in the case.

Trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 16, 2014.

Eloy Vasquez-Santiago - ICE HOLD Read more about Eloy Vasquez-Santiago, suspected of killing Hillsboro woman, scheduled for trial

A 30-year-old Gresham man arrested on a Polk County highway Wednesday for unlawful possession of a weapon, was later connected to the seizure of methamphetamine and heroin from Gresham apartment.

Sgt. Chris Ray, a spokesman for the Yamhill County Interagency Narcotics Team, said Edgar Hugo Guerrero Robles was booked into the Polk County Jail after he was stopped on Oregon 22 near Ridgeway Road at about 6 p.m. for unlawful possession of a weapon.
 

Read more about the alleged meth and heroin dealer. Read more about Polk County weapons arrest leads to Gresham drug cache, police say

November 7, 2013, Wilsonville, Ore. -- The Oregon Association of Nurseries will recognize six Oregon elected officials as "Friends of Nurseries" at its 2013 Convention, to be held Friday at The Oregon Garden resort in Silverton, Ore.

The six include three Republicans and three Democrats. They are Gov. John Kitzhaber (D), U.S. Rep Kurt Schrader (D-Oregon Fifth District), Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland), State Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Pendleton), State Sen. Chuck Thomsen (R-Hood River), and State Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-Ontario).

"The Oregon nursery industry is the largest single segment in Oregon agriculture, with $745 million in sales in the most recent year that was tracked," OAN Executive Director Jeff Stone said. "Our association is more than 800 businesses strong, and all of them make a positive difference in Oregon's economy. That's why we wanted to give these public officials some much-deserved recognition. All of them have shown positive leadership, ensuring that Oregon remains a great place for nurseries to do business."

Gov. Kitzhaber was recognized for taking the lead on creating a new water supply fund for irrigation, natural resource protection and other uses. He was also recognized for putting together a task force that led to creation and passage of a four-year driver's card bill. Finally, Kitzhaber has maintained critical natural resource and extension funding at the state level, which the industry relies on for sharing knowledge and managing pest and disease threats.

Rep. Schrader has been consistent ally on the Farm Bill and comprehensive immigration reform. He has secured funding for research and pest and disease issues, and successfully pushed the USDA to rescind a discriminatory order that denied Oregon growers equal marketplace access. Schrader is currently serving on a House-Senate conference committee regarding the federal Farm Bill.

Speaker Kotek provided critical support so that the water supply bill and driver's card bill could move forward.

Sen. Hansell was a key figure in the passage of the water supply bill and also sponsored the driver's card bill.

Sen. Thomsen also sponsored the driver's card bill and provided critical support to help get it passed.

Rep. Bentz helped put together a compromise that moved the water supply bill forward when few thought it could pass. It ended up passing with just one dissenting vote between the two legislative chambers.

The awards will be announced at Friday's convention. At that convention, outgoing OAN President Carson Lord of Tree Frog Nursery (Silverton, Ore.) will pass the gavel to President-Elect Matt Gold, who will assume office. Gold and a 23-member board will guide the association's direction and priorities for 2014.

The Oregon Association of Nurseries, based in Wilsonville, represents more than 800 wholesale growers, retailers, landscapers and suppliers. Nursery products are the biggest sector in Oregon agriculture, with annual sales of $745 million in 2012. Oregon's nursery industry is a traded sector; nearly 75 percent of Oregon-grown nursery plants are shipped out of state. To learn more, visit www.oan.org or call 503-682-5089.

  Read more about OAN recognizes six public officials as 'Friends of Nurseries'

Jose Calderon lined up the customers, charging them a few thousand bucks for the promise of authentic state IDs despite their illegal residency in the United States. Maria Cavallaro gave them what they sought, using her position at the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles to procure driver’s licenses, learner’s permits and identification cards for those she knew were not eligible for them.

Together, court filings show, the pair helped obtain documents for as many as 300 people — most of them illegal immigrants — and netted tens of thousands of dollars for themselves. On Wednesday, Cavallaro, 45, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and Calderon, 42, of Sterling, pleaded guilty to a bribery conspiracy charge. Cavallaro’s attorney said afterward that his client felt sympathy for people unable to renew their driver’s licenses because of a law change in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“She felt sorry for people,” said Neal Olesker, her attorney.

The pleas in a near-empty federal district courtroom in Alexandria mark the first time someone has accepted responsibility in the far-reaching conspiracy, which ran from 2007 into 2011. But it does not mark the end of the case. Calderon’s wife, Noemi Barboza, is scheduled to appear at a plea hearing Thursday, and court documents list an unnamed person who seems to have participated in the scheme but has not yet been charged.

The issue of whether to give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants is increasingly being debated in state legislatures.

This year, Maryland passed a measure to create a sort of second-class driver’s license, which applicants could obtain without proof of lawful status, and the D.C. Council passed similar legislation Tuesday. Virginia, though, requires that one prove legal presence in the United States.

Calderon told a federal judge Wednesday that the scheme was “my idea,” but that it ran through Cavallaro, a former customer service representative and senior generalist at DMV customer service centers in Chantilly, Alexandria and Fairfax’s Fair Oaks Mall. According to court filings, Cavallaro would process and approve applications of those wanting driver’s licenses, learner’s permits or identification cards even though she knew the applicants could not prove legal presence in the United States.

Calderon, according to the filings, found the applicants and sometimes filled out the applications for them. Charging $2,000, $2,500 or $3,000 per person, he and Cavallaro netted at least $120,000 to split between them, court filings show. Calderon admitted that he brokered transactions for about 100 ineligible applicants, and Cavallaro admitted that another person sent her more than 200 ineligible applicants for illegal processing, court filings show.

A DMV spokeswoman said Cavallaro worked for the agency from 2005 to 2011 and referred other questions to the FBI. According to court records, Cavallaro was fired from the DMV in May 2011.

The DMV has had intermittent problems with employees selling driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants throughout the years.

The manager at a DMV office at Springfield Mall pleaded guilty in one such case in 2005.

Cavallaro faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, and Calderon faces a maximum of five. Both are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 31.

  Read more about A scheme to get driver’s licenses and IDs for illegal immigrants, hatched in the Va. DMV